Related
by redgrass-and-silvertrees
Summary: Mustang's crew often commented on the differences between the older and younger Elric. They liked to joke about how the two, with their different temperaments, hardly seemed related. That is until they saw just how Al could be when angered. One-shot.


**If I owned the Elric brothers I would wrap them in blankets and keep them happy and safe forever.**

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><p>It all started out as a joke, something Mustang's men liked to tease during the times when they were avoiding work and watching thirteen year old Edward Elric and their superior officer verbally duke it out within his office. Off to the side, Alphonse stood to the side anxiously rubbing his hands as if waiting for the moment when he would have to physically restrain Ed from attacking the Colonel.<p>

"Look at those two," Havoc would tease lightly not hiding the amused affection the in his tone. "I've never met two siblings who are so close and yet are so totally different. It's almost unbelievable." Fuery chuckled lightly his eyes shifting over to where Ed had finally had enough and was starting to climb up onto the Colonel's desk only for Al's large but gentle hands to pull him back.

"Well siblings don't have to be identical and it makes sense. Ed's a born leader, a smart kid with a vision; he's also the older brother so it's only natural that Alphonse would take the more submissive role. You wouldn't understand as an only child but birth order really makes a difference." Breda rolled his eyes watching through the glass window as Mustang's patience ran out and he angrily pointed at the door.

"Yeah, yeah well let's just be glad it worked out that way. Dealing with _one_ Edward Elric is chore enough; can you imagine if Al was the same as his brother?" The four men took a moment to collectively shudder at the thought just as Ed was unceremoniously thrown out of Mustang's office.

"I'm through talking with you shrimp; wait outside like a good little brat while I inform your much more mature younger brother of your upcoming mission. You'll thank me when Al has all the mission details you oh so wisely decided you didn't need!" The Colonel, his eyes alight and his fingers so close to snapping the men were surprised Ed wasn't already walking off a bad sunburn. But instead the Colonel just slammed the door in the eldest Elric's face and walked back to his desk addressing Al with a much more pleasant smile.

Ed, meanwhile, swore violently about the Colonel but obediently stomped over to the couch and plopped himself down. The men exchanged not so subtle glances at the kid's acceptance. They'd have expected him to tear down the door and bust back into the Colonel's office with the intent to cause extreme harm. Noticing their obvious confusion, the Fullmetal Alchemist huffed and sunk deep into the couch.

"I could give a damn about the Colonel but Al was getting frustrated with me too and he might cause a scene if I give that bastard what's coming to him." Of all people, it was Falman who looked up with an incredulous expression.

"_Al_ would cause a scene? No offense Ed, but isn't that more of your area?" To their surprise, Ed didn't explode into a rage but merely snickered with amusement. He crossed his legs and gestured with his head towards the office where Alphonse was genially nodding his helmet at what the Colonel was saying.

"That's because you've never seen Al mad and you're lucky for that. Having spent a lifetime putting up with me and Winry, he's good at controlling his temper but anything can happen when you finally break him." Havoc shook his head in incredulity.

"Al? Really? Sorry chief I'm not buying it. We've known you kids for a whole year now and I'm pretty sure that your brother doesn't have a mean bone in his body well uh you know I mean." Ed rolled his eyes but shrugged lazily.

"Fine, don't believe me, but if we're in the military long enough, one of these days I'm going to do something dumb and piss off Al and all hell's gonna break loose. Hopefully it won't happen for a while, I like my face in its current arrangement." The others exchanged disbelieving looks. "Trust me; you'll know when it happens. You just have to listen to his address."

"Brother, we're all done if you're ready to go." Al said cheerfully ducking out of Mustang's office as if nothing were wrong. "We should head back to the dorms so you can rest; we're catching the early train to West City tomorrow." Ed groaned as he got to his feet.

"You're such a slave driver Al; I swear you and the Colonel are out to get me." He said giving Al's arm an affectionate punch. Al chuckled a bit and settled for patting his brother on the head causing Ed to launch into yet another rant on sibling respect as they made their way out the door. Watching them go, Havoc rolled his eyes.

"Yeesh, I don't care what the Chief says; I just don't think Al is capable of that type of anger." The others nodded in agreement only for Hawkeye, who'd been present for most of the conversation, to speak lightly as she filed some papers.

"I think you underestimate Alphonse," she stated. "Haven't you ever heard that it's the quiet ones that you need to watch out for?" She asked lightly and the men were pretty sure it wasn't a coincidence that she turned around so the light from the window was able to gleam on her hip holster.

XxX

"Breda that's cheating!" Havoc shouted pointing angrily at the chess board only for Breda to put his head in his hand for what felt like the millionth time that day. He knew it had been a bad idea to agree to a game of chess with Havoc. Breda shoved the white knight into his co-worker's face.

"No, it is not a mistake! Once again, this is a knight, it's supposed to move in an L shape, it has always moved in an L shape so either learn how the damn pieces move and finish the game or leave!" Havoc swatted away Breda's hand and muttered darkly under his breath, rubbing at his stubble as he examined the board. Breda sighed and replaced his knight awaiting Havoc's next move. However, before much time had passed, the blonde furrowed his brow and turned his head towards the door.

"Hey, do you guys hear that? It sounds like someone's coming." Across from him, Breda kicked him under the table.

"I'm not going to fall for that one again you moron, you think you can just distract me and move pieces around? And then accuse _me_ of cheating?" He said angrily only to stop at the sound of a weapon cocking. Lieutenant Hawkeye had stood up from her desk with her gun trained on the door.

"No Havoc's right, someone's out there and they're coming fast. Be prepared everyone." The rest of the team was just getting to their feet when a black and yellow blur burst into the room with a loud bang of the door. Luckily Hawkeye recognized the intruder and lowered her weapon but the rest of them were jolted at the sudden entrance. Havoc removed his hand from his own sidearm and wiped at his brow.

"Dammit kid, you nearly gave us all heart attacks, what's all this-" but 15 year old Edward Elric wasn't listening to them probably wasn't even seeing them through his terror. Still panting from his run, his eyes darted around the room looking for something while muttering curses under his breath. Mustang had, by this point, stood up and was making his way to the outer part of the office. The rest of them were just confused and a more than a bit worried. Ed and Al had recently blown into town and had been in just this morning to give their report on the latest mission. Neither brother had seemed at all any different to explain such behavior from a kid who faced literal monsters on a daily basis.

"Fullmetal, what on Earth-" Mustang asked, finally opening the door only to be cut off as Ed dashed past him into the Colonel's room his eyes lighting up when he saw the closet. "Edward what's wrong, just talk to us, we can help you." Hawkeye said walking over next to Mustang as Ed ran over and opened the window before running back to the closet. He gave a quick look over his shoulder.

"Please, just let me hide here for a bit and for God's sake don't tell him I'm here." He said quickly before slamming the closet door shut, the sound echoing loudly in the now silent office. The six soldiers exchanged bewildered looks and after a moment, Mustang shrugged in annoyed resignation.

"I give up; just let the damn brat do whatever he wants. I don't even care anymore." He said making his way back to his desk to finish the paperwork he'd been working on while Hawkeye remained standing with a concerned look on her face.

"No, something's not right here, this isn't like Edward at all. I've never seen him so scared before." She paused as if realizing something and looked around. "Has anyone seen Alphonse?"

"**_Edward_**," came a shrill shriek from further down the hall which once again had the men jumping in surprise. Soon behind it was the loud, familiar clanking of an empty suit of armor but this time it sounded like Alphonse was sprinting. A moment later he appeared, roughly shoving open the door Ed had run through not a minute before. Despite the fact that Al was an animate suit of armor, the team had always liked the sweet kid and had never of him as something to be feared. But a cold sweat broke out on the faces of more than one man at the rage radiating off the metal form.

"Where is he?" He asked harshly, stomping further into the office. Mustang worked hard not to look over at the closet where Ed had let out an involuntary squeak upon hearing Al's voice. It seemed, however, that with all the noise he was creating Al hadn't heard it. Hawkeye took a hesitant step towards Alphonse with her hands held out in placating way.

"Alphonse, please calm down, just tell us what happened." Al made a noise that sounded close to a growl and just brushed past her roughly as he stalked into the Colonel's office. Mustang folded his hands on his desk impassively watching the armor slam his hands on the desk causing all of the objects upon it to jump at the force.

"Alphonse," The Colonel said in that serious authoritative tone that he usually only reserved for Edward. "I understand that you're upset but you do not come into my office like this and threaten my staff, I will not stand for that." The two glared at each other for a few moments longer.

"Then tell me where he is," Al hissed. "And I'll be on my way; I just need to smack some sense into Edward's stupid, moronic head." _Edward?_ Mustang thought curiously, _not Brother?_ Another moment passed before Mustang shrugged lazily and turned to point at the still open window.

"Since this is clearly a family issue and I'm sure Fullmetal deserves it anyway, he went out there. He scrambled in not long before you and raced out the window. I didn't see which way he went but it's possible he jumped to the floor below." With a grunt, Al stomped past the desk and placed his hands on the window frame. For a moment, it looked like the kid was going to jump when his helmet turned violently to the right and towards the closet where Ed was hiding. Mustang didn't have any time to react before Al was over there and pulling the door open with enough force to damage it. The sound of the top hinge being ripped off very nearly covered Edward's frightened squeal.

"Next time you might want to breathe more quietly _Brother_," Al said spitting out the title before reaching in and dragging Edward out kicking and screaming. Mustang had stood up and the others huddled fearfully in front of the glass window as Al stared down through non-existent eyes with enough fury to start a fire. Mustang took a moment to be thankful that Al had, purposely or not, grabbed Ed's automail arm as the younger brother's grip tightened around Ed's arm enough that the metal limb protested under the strain. Seeming to have gotten his spirit back, Ed growled and tugged at his arm, kicking at the armor.

"Let go of me you big tin can, if you break the automail I'll tell Winry it's your fault." He shouted as anger overwhelmed the fear that had previously been in his voice. Al shook the wrist held tightly in his fist.

"Apologize Ed, now." With a stubborn set of his brow, Ed shook his head curtly. "Edward, you take back what you said!" Ed pursed his lips in defiance as Al's form began to shake with renewed rage.

"You're overreacting Al, it's not like it's that big a de-" Edward let out an involuntary gasp as the inexorable armor slowly lifted the tiny alchemist up in the air by his automail. Al wasn't holding him very high, not more than 20 centimeters off the ground, but Mustang imagined that being held up solely by a fake limb must be an unpleasant feeling. The grimace that crossed over Ed's face confirmed it before his characteristic pigheadedness resurfaced. He once again began kicking at the armor just now from his lofted position.

"Edward," Al said in a low, dangerous voice that had Mustang slowly reaching for the drawer were he kept his gloves. He didn't know quite what was going on between the boys but he was worried what would happen if Alphonse got even angrier than he already was, and considering Ed's habit of provoking people, it was very likely to happen. "Say you're sorry." Ed growled again and ceased in his futile wriggling to glare heartily up at the armor that housed his brother's soul.

"What good would it do? It wouldn't make any difference. I can apologize until I'm blue in the face but it won't change how I feel." A few terse moments of silence passed before Al let out what sounded like a calming breath, had he been capable of that, and started to lower Edward to the ground. When Ed hovered just about a few centimeters off the ground, Al suddenly reached out with his free hand to the exposed wires of the automail ignoring Ed's yells of protest.

It all came to a head a few moments later when Edward fell roughly to the floor with a loud thunk while his right arm remained tightly held in Al's grip. Ed stared up at his brother in astonishment, fingering the empty automail port as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. Of course the shock only lasted so long.

"Hey, give me back my arm you jerk!" Ed shouted staggering to his feet, trying to balance himself without the heavy weight of the prosthetic. He was pushed back down roughly, ironically enough, by his own arm as Al towered him. "Al I mean it, I need that, give it back." Ed said through gritted teeth, trying unsuccessfully to will his older brother authority over the intimidating figure before him.

"You _need_ it Ed?" Al said bitterly, "well what about me Ed, don't I _need_ you? You're so dumb sometimes, don't you ever tell me things would be better off if you were dead because that's not true. I need you like you need this thing. You are _my_ right arm Brother and maybe some time without this will make you realize how important you are to me. You'll get this back after you think a bit on what it'd be like to go on the rest of your life without it, maybe then you'll understand what it would feel like if you died on me." With that said, Al turned around and stomped out of the office with the lifeless automail still clutched in his enraged grasp. As the door slammed behind him the office once again fell into silence.

The elder Elric looked the very picture of defeat; his legs sprawled out the floor with his remaining arm limply held in his lap. His expression was hidden from view by his long bangs as he stared at the spot where his right arm had been. Or perhaps, more specifically, at what was missing. After a terse minute, Hawkeye quietly walked up to him and held out a hand for him which everyone was surprised to see him accept.

Behind the glass window into the main office, the members of Mustang's unit were gray faced and wide-eyed. The whole episode had been brief, not more than a few minutes but they felt as if a hurricane had just blown through. Ed's shouting matches with the Colonel looked like childish tantrums compared to what they had just witnessed. They made a note to never, _ever_ anger the armored boy. In the office, Ed chuckled and gave a strained smile toward the main office.

"And you didn't believe me when I said Al was terrifying when he was angry. It's why I lose every fight we have, even before he was stuck in the armor." He said loudly enough to be heard in the other room. "Just be glad it doesn't happen very often, though you can always tell when he starts calling me by my first name." From his desk, Mustang snorted as he surreptitiously removed his ignition gloves and returned to his regular ones.

"Yeah it only happens when his big brother is being extra idiotic, it's a wonder he doesn't lose his temper more often." He said settling himself back into his chair and pulling out the report Ed had turned in yesterday. "And since you're here and not short for time, you can rewrite this atrocious mess you call a mission report. And just in case you didn't know, my name is Colonel Roy Mustang, not _That Slutty Flame Bastard_." Edward growled and spun towards the desk.

"Like hell I will! All my mission reports look like that so why do I have to rewrite this one? I gotta go get Al before he gets arrested or something." Ed said turning towards the door preparing to leave.

"I think it would be best if you left Alphonse alone for a bit Fullmetal, if you'd said such a thing to me, I know I wouldn't want to speak to you so soon." Edward froze in place. "Besides, we still think Scar is hanging around Central, so there's no way I'm letting you walk out of this office now that you've been _disarmed_." From the corner, Hawkeye moaned lightly and closed her eyes. Ed still hadn't moved so Mustang took it as a victory and held out the mission report.

"Come on, Ed, surprise me once and do as you're told. Besides, taking a few hours to rewrite this just might give you time to consider the truth in your brother's words. I honestly think he should have beaten that lesson into you, but perhaps this way you'll actually learn something and what a miracle that would be." With a growl, Ed turned and ripped the report out of Mustang's hands and awkwardly made his way to a free desk as he began to struggle to write the report using only his left hand. Mustang sighed and resigned himself to the fact that not only would the report be completely illegible but also significantly worse than the initial one.

He smiled though to watch over the next three hours as Ed would suddenly stop his writing to curse and swear only to look over at his empty port with a thoughtful expression. He'd sit there for a moment longer before continuing on the difficult task. Maybe the Pipsqueak would finally learn once and for all that he was loved just as fiercely has he himself loved others. At just before five, as everyone was getting ready to pack up and Mustang was finishing reading Ed's report, which indeed shoddier than the first one, a quiet knock was heard and an armored head poked through the door.

"Is um Brother still here?" Al asked tentatively, shuffling sheepishly in like a kid who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Mustang gestured to the couch where Edward was fast asleep with a blue military coat thrown on top of him like a blanket. He cleared his throat with a light blush at the knowing glances his men gave him, the fact that his own coat had gone missing earlier was completely coincidental. "I uh, I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier Colonel Sir. Brother and I were sparring downstairs, and well, he said some things that just got me so mad and I just sort of lost it." The Colonel patted his metal shoulder before removing the coat from Ed's tiny form. Ah so that's where it went, he put it on as if there was nothing wrong.

"I understand Alphonse, you're brother has a habit of infuriating even the most patient of people. I think its good for him to be served a good helping of humble pie every now and again." He said warmly only for his gaze to sharpen on the young alchemist. "But that doesn't mean I approve of your dangerous conduct and property damage. If you feel the need to punish your brother, please do it far away from military grounds or I will be forced to take action even if you aren't technically in the military." The armor snapped to attention.

"Yes Sir! I mean sorry Sir! It won't happen again Sir." At the sound of the armor, Ed blinked himself awake before looking guilty up at his brother. "Oh you're awake, good. Now then, do you have anything to say Brother?" Ed winced, turning away as he began to wring his hand on his shirt.

"Um about earlier, I'm uh, I'm sorry I upset you Al. I maybe said something that I shouldn't have and, I don't know, I'm stupid and you're right and I'm sorry okay?" It wasn't much of an apology and didn't really even address the central issue but Alphonse seemed to accept it anyway. He helped Ed get to his feet apologizing himself when he told Ed that his arm was back at the dorms and he'd have to wait until then to get it back. The members of Mustang's team smiled to watch the two brothers, back to being the best of friends, walked out of the office together. The storm had passed and all was right in their little world.

Havoc took a long draw on his cigarette before he ground it out in the ashtray beside him, throwing his bag over one shoulder.

"I guess you were right Fuery," he said with a grin. "I guess they are related after all, only an Elric could get that pissed off that quickly." The others either chuckled politely or outright ignored the lieutenant as they locked up the office and began the trek back to their respective homes. Just another day in the office of team Mustang.

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><p>Yet another FMA story sorry, I got 3 more in the queue as well. I get mad when people accuse Alphonse of being spineless and submissive. It's one reason why I prefer the mangabrotherhood storyline the '03 anime. The manga paints Alphonse as polite and quiet but also just as stubborn and dedicated as Edward. Plus of the two, I'd imagine Alphonse is worse when angry because it takes so much to get him angry. Thus this story was born of me imagining Al completely losing it. The hardest part was coming up for a good enough reason to make him so mad. But it's a fun dynamic between the two brothers. Yes Al loves and adores Ed as his Big Brother/Role Model but they're also equals and Al will not hesitate to set Ed straight. Plus the idea that Al punishes Ed by taking away his limbs just makes me so happy. That too, was a major motivator for the story. The image appeared in my head and wouldn't leave.


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